Caroline's Request
by GinStan
Summary: Caroline has a task for Andy. This story is set between the Harry Potter Manuscript incident and Paris. It is NOT part of any other story I have written.


A/N: This is a story based on the prompt of a child asking an assassin to kill a relative who is abusing them. Then it took the idea a step farther saying the assassin adopted the child and raised them as an assassin. This story doesn't follow the prompt exactly but it's what I came up with when I started writing.

Here we go...

Caroline's Request

by Gin

Andrea Sachs was dead tired. After a few months at her new job her infuriatingly hard to please boss, Miranda Priestly, had conceded to allow Andy into her home but only to deliver the dry cleaning and the Book. She had been delivering the nightly items for a few weeks and hoped that Miranda was, at least a little, impressed with her work. The first delivery had gone horribly wrong and she had suffered for it by being tasked to find copies of the next Harry Potter book for Miranda's twin girls. She had, amazingly, managed to acquire said copy and from Miranda's slightly speechless response Andy thought she had done well. Plus the fact that she was still employed, that was a large clue too.

Tonight was the same as most nights. Dry cleaning in the closet, Book on the table but as she turned to leave Andy was startled to see a small figure sitting on the stairs. "Oh!" She laughed nervously. "Hello." Squinting in the dim light, Andy took a chance. "Caroline."

"Hello."

"Um..." Andy tilted her head slightly. "What's going on?"

"I heard Mom say that you can do anything." Caroline looked dubious. "Is that true?"

"Well." Andy hedged, "I try." She would have smiled at the way Caroline's lips pressed together, very similar to Miranda. She controlled herself and kept her face serious because Caroline seemed very serious about whatever was bothering her. "Why do you ask?"

"I want you to do something," Caroline spoke softly, "but I don't know if you can, or will."

"Well, why don't you tell me what it is and then I can tell you if I can do it." Andy sat down next to the child. "Deal?"

Caroline licked her lips and nodded. "Okay." She took a deep breath and spoke.

Nothing could have prepared Andy for what Caroline said next and her eyes widened. She started to repeat the request. "You want me to..." She faltered and Caroline repeated herself.

"Kill Stephen."

Andy knew her mouth was opening and closing without her saying anything. She tried to stop it but couldn't, so she tried to make it useful and managed to say, "Why?" When Caroline responded, Andy was ready to comply with the girl's wishes. The immediate rage she felt when Caroline spoke didn't even feel wrong.

"He's hurting Mom."

She could feel the tears welling in her eyes and fought to keep them at bay. "Are you sure?" Her heart broke even further when Caroline nodded.

"I hear them, sometimes." Caroline sniffed the way a person does when they're about to cry and don't want to. "I hear them, and Mom cries."

Anger burned away her tears and Andy was ready to run upstairs and kill the man right now. "Are they home now?"

"No." Caroline shook her head. "They went out to some party one of Stephen's clients was having." She frowned. "Mom was so tired, but Stephen made her go."

Andy knew for a fact that today had been an extraordinarily long day for Miranda. She had arrived at the office at five am and Miranda had already been ensconced at her desk. From the look of the surface the editor had already been there for quite some time. It was now nearly eleven pm, so Miranda had been on the go for nearly eighteen hours. Andy growled to herself, it was inhumane to force someone into that kind of schedule. She glanced at the table where the Book sat and knew that even when Miranda got home she would either spend a few hours going over the mock-up or would rise in the wee hours of the morning, again, to make the changes she required. But something didn't sound right about Caroline's statement. Andy couldn't see how anyone could make Miranda do anything. "Made her?"

Caroline nodded. "I heard them arguing about it. Mom said she was too tired and wanted to rest for a while before the Book was delivered." She took a shaky breath and continued. "I think Stephen grabbed her arm. I heard her tell him to let her go and she made a sound like he was hurting her."

Having calmed down from the initial surge of anger regarding Stephen hurting Miranda, Andy was again seeing red. She managed to speak through the tightness in her throat. "Then what?"

"He told her that if she didn't go he would help Irv get her out of Runway, he would get her fired and throw her out on the street like..." Caroline stumbled over this part. "...like the old bitch that she was and that he would take custody of us." She looked at Andy with terrified blue eyes. "He said he would have us all to himself then."

Andy imagined Miranda with that same look in her eye and let the anger burn down any wall she had built to contain her feelings for Miranda. She asked Caroline, gently. "Caroline, has he ever..."

"No." The girl's voice was strong and clear. "No, Mom won't ever give him the chance. We're never alone with him. Either Mom or a nanny or a bodyguard are always with us when he's here."

"Is the nanny here now?"

"No." Caroline waved that suggestion away. "Don't need one at night, Mom is here... or like now when he's gone." She shifted her shoulders. "I have money if that's what you need."

Shaking her head, Andy reached out, wrapping her arms around the child. "Keep your money." She assured Caroline. "I don't think killing him is the answer, but I will take care of it. I'll help your mom." She smiled at the hope that flared in Caroline's face.

"I knew you would." Caroline now smiled. "I knew it. You're not like the others."

"The others?"

"The other Emilys." Caroline took a deep breath, like it was the first time she had breathed in a year. "Mom trusts you with her car, with Patricia, and you know things we like, like Harry Potter. She never talks about any of them, but she talks about you all the time."

"She does?"

Caroline nodded. "Andrea did this.. .Andrea said that... Andrea, Andrea, Andrea, blah blah blah..."

Andy was about to say something else when a throat clearing startled her. They both looked up to see Miranda standing there. She was still wearing her coat and had obviously entered through the kitchen door a mere moment before.

"Miranda!" Andy jumped to her feet. "Um... the Book." She pointed to the correct table. "I delivered the Book."

"Mmm... so I see." Concerned blue eyes tracked to her daughter. "And what's all this?"

"Oh." Andy jumped in again. "She couldn't sleep and heard me come in, probably stomping like usual, she came down and we were talking for a bit."

Miranda accepted the explanation although it didn't seem as though she believed it. Probably because she knew that when Andrea entered the house the woman was as quiet as a mouse. "I see. However, it is late so you," she directed her words and gaze toward her daughter, "young lady, should be getting back to bed."

"Okay, Mom." Caroline stood and brushed her lips against Miranda's cheek. "Good night."

They both watched as the girl disappeared up the stairs then Miranda turned half her attention on Andy as she moved to the closet to remove her coat. "Thank you for comforting her."

"Of course, Miranda. Anytime." Andy smiled while trying to process the information Caroline gave her with what she was seeing in Miranda's body language. There was a hesitancy in removing the coat and Andy jumped to help. Somehow, nearly of its own accord as she was standing behind Miranda, Andy's left hand brushed down over the fabric covering Miranda's left arm. It caused a short hiss of pain to escape Miranda's lips. When Miranda turned around, Andy could see that same terrified look that Caroline had earlier. Careful not to rip the coat in her grip, Andy used the time it took to hang up the garment to unlock her jaw and ask, nearly growl, "Where is he?"

Gently rubbing her left arm with her right hand, Miranda snorted softly. "He has elected to remain at the party. He is quite enamored with the party favors his clients have provided." At Andy's puzzled look, Miranda elaborated. "I believe their names were Tiffany and Pepper."

Andy couldn't tear her eyes away from Miranda's face, and she also couldn't help the whispered word that escaped her lips. "Bastard."

"Mmm..." Miranda shifted away. "Yes, well... they are willing." She managed to look into Andy's compassionate brown eyes. "And I am not." She murmured quietly, "Not that it matters much to him."

If her eyes were glowing red, Andy wouldn't have been surprised. Her words were slow, deliberate and incredibly menacing. The 'don't ask Miranda' rule went completely away and her voice was low, deep. "Where. Is. He?"

"The party was at the airport Marriott." Miranda rolled her eyes at the location. "But he could be anywhere by now. I doubt he'll be back tonight." She tried to draw upon the Dragon and spoke in a tone that most Runway employees obeyed without question. "Go home, Andrea. This is not your concern."

Grinding her teeth together, Andy nodded then gave the usual response. "Yes, Miranda."

She was surprised when Miranda walked her to the door and noticed again that the editor shifted her left arm lower on the door, as if to ease her discomfort from raising that arm. It was too much and Andy began to speak. "Miranda..." only to be cut off by the Dragon.

"Good Night, Andrea."

Swallowing hard at that rebuff, Andy nodded and turned to go when the softer Miranda voice called to her.

"Andrea."

Andy turned to look up the steps at the woman just visible through the partially closed door. "Yes?"

The Dragon was gone and all that was left was a vulnerable woman who seemed grateful for Andrea's obvious compassionate feelings. Miranda smiled, a genuine smile and raised an eyebrow. "I do not say blah blah blah."

Releasing a burst of laughter at that, Andy watched the door close slowly then turned her feet toward the nearest subway station. She wiped a tear away from the corner of her eye and had stepped into the train that had just arrived out of habit. Also out of habit she glanced at the map of the subway routes that was mounted on the wall across from her. Naturally her eyes were drawn to the stop she needed to get home. On this night, however, her glance continually tracked the colorful trails on the poster and more often than not the one her gaze followed ended at the airport.

She went over the encounter at Miranda's house in her head, over and over, examining what was said and what wasn't until the train reached her destination.

###

Andy rolled over in her bed and sighed when she caught sight of the clock. Two am, she thought, great. She knew tomorrow, today was going to be rough. She had functioned with little sleep before, but rarely so little, and to be Miranda's assistant require better than just 'functional' performance. Still, tonight had been good. She had hoped her previous habits, from before her employment at Runway were long past, but here she was spending a sleepless night before having to go to work the next day. Groaning, she glanced at the clock again, mentally calculated how long she had before she needed to be awake, concluded that it seemed like a good length for a nap and punched her pillow and resolutely closed her eyes. Of course, Miranda's smiling face instantly appeared in her head. She took advantage of that though and manipulated the vision to her liking, imagining how soft her infuriating boss would be when she gathered the courage to kiss the woman. It was a nice way to drift off to sleep.

###

"Holy hell..." Detective Herodemus Huer looked around the hotel room. "I've never seen a murder scene so clean."

A uniformed officer shook his head, there are a few blood spatters in the bathroom. He gestured to the room behind him, "but it all seems to be the victim's"

Det. Heur sighed, "Of course it does. It makes sense that it's there though since we think that's where he was killed." The body had been found in the running shower, nearly all the blood had washed down the drain. He nodded to another forensic worker and then turned at the sound of his name.

"Detective Heur, you should see this."

He walked to the window and studied the small card that had been left on the ledge. "Have you ever seen anything like that design?" When the lab boy shook his head Huer grunted. "Me either. But I've heard about it." He shrugged. "Bag it. The Federal boys will be here soon I'm sure. Seems their Double K killer has returned."

"Double K?"

"Karma Killer" Det. Huer looked around and realized the scene perfectly fit the Double K killer's M.O. "Clean kills, always men, always leaves the calling card." He shook his head. "Fed boys will authenticate the card. Double K has been quiet for a few months now. Victims were mostly in the midwest, so they're gonna be all over this one."

Nodding, the gloved man picked up the card and put it in an evidence bag then continued his meticulous search of the extremely clean room and muttered. "They aren't going to find much here."

Herodemus felt in the way as the lab techs combed over the room so he went into the hall to speak to the uniformed officer there. "Have we ID'd the victim?"

The uni nodded, "Yeah, the hotel records match the photo id in his wallet." He handed it over to the Detective. "There was an indentation on his ring finger, ring's in the wallet." He indicated a woman sitting in a chair in the hall, wrapped in a blanket. "Lady there was passed out on the bed. Didn't see or hear anything. She's the one that found him. Her screaming alerted hotel employees." He rubbed the back of his neck. "She did say she only just met him tonight." He paused and added. "She thinks he may have drugged her. Lab techs drew some blood, we'll know more after the tests come back."

"Great." Huer looked at the driver's license and sighed again. It was an upscale address. "I guess I'll go see if anyone lives at this address."

"Good luck." The uniformed officer shook his head as he watched the detective walk away. "Better you than me."

###

At six am Miranda walked into her office. She was still reeling from the four am visit she had received from the police, informing her that Stephen had been killed. Of course, there were already paparazzi outside her home this morning and outside the Elias-Clarke building. The story of him being in a room with a prostitute was too juicy for them not to have a feeding frenzy. Her steps slowed when she realized that the lights in her office were on and a gently steaming cup of coffee was sitting in its usual spot. Circling the desk, Miranda picked up the coffee and took a sip, closing her eyes to savor the flavor and sensation as the coffee distributed through her. The sound of footsteps caused her eyes to snap open. She relaxed immediately when she recognized who was approaching. "Andrea."

"Oh!" Andy jumped slightly. "Good morning, Miranda."

"Mmm... better for some than others." Miranda studied her assistant carefully. "I received a visit from the police early this morning."

"Oh?"

"Mmm..." Miranda absently rubbed her left arm. "Apparently we no longer need to concern ourselves with Stephen."

"They arrested him?"

Eyes narrowed suspiciously, "He is dead."

"Ah... well then I guess I would agree he's no longer a problem then." Andy took a step closer. "What happened?"

"They believe he was the victim of a serial killer. They couldn't talk about it while the investigation continued," Miranda shivered slightly, "but I was told that the method of his demise fit the modus operandi and that they didn't believe that I, or the children, were in any danger as the previous victims families had never been contacted by the suspect."

"Well that's good." Andy took a step closer, now close enough reach out and touch her boss. Her hand moved very close to Miranda's left arm. "How is it?"

"Sore." Miranda hesitated. "Last night, Caroline asked you a question..."

"Yes." Andy took a step back. "She asked me to kill Stephen."

Miranda nodded. "And now, that has come to pass..."

"I told her I didn't think killing him was the answer. I told her I would take care of it." Andy explained. "I was going to call some private investigators today, to have him followed and find some dirt on him."

"That will no longer be necessary." Miranda hesitated, then walked around her desk to settle into her chair. "Thank God you didn't take any rash action."

"Do you believe in God, Miranda?"

"Not really. It's just something people say." Miranda tilted her head in question. "Do you?" The negative shake of Andrea's head prompted a second question. "What do you believe in?"

Andy smiled, the corners of her eyes wrinkled slightly as she answered with just one word.

"Karma"

Miranda grunted at that then chuckled as she handed over the Book, filled with sticky notes detailing the changes to be made. "Well then, thank Karma"

Andy bowed slightly as she took the Book and spoke softly. "Yes, Miranda." Then she was off to the Art Department.

Just another day at the office.

fin.


End file.
